in,~s s
posed the political views of the government and of the ultramontanes, but also accused the latter of ultraism in their defence of ecclesiastical institutions and prac- tices. Montalembert, Lacordaire, prince de Broglie, Falloux, Lenormant, and bishop Dupanloup of Orleans were the most distinguished men of the party, the Correspondant and the Ami de la Relirjion its most im- portant organs. The controversy between the two parties grew not onlv ver}^ bitter and violent, but even led several times to a S[)lit between the bishops, whose sjnnpathies were almo>'. equally divided be- tween the two parties. Several bishops took decided ground against the Univers, and even in Paris it re- quired the mediation of the pope to prevent its prohi- bition by archbishop Sibour. An entire change in the relation of Napoleon to the Church and the so-called Catholic party took place in consequence of the war in \tsi\y (1857) and the attitude of Napoleon with re- gard to the temporal sovereignty of the pope. The war silenced all the eulogies of tlie emperor, and only a few solitary voices, like that of Lacordaire, dared to express sympathj' with the cause of Italian indepen. dence. But after Napoleon had advised the pope to give up a portion of his states, both the parties, the ultramontane and the moderate, turned against the government. All the bishops except one condemned, more or less explicitlj', the course ])ursued by the gov- ernment, and every ecclesiastical journal in France took the same ground. The government used all means to keep down the agitation of the public mind on the subject, and to force the leading advocates of the ecclesiastical interests to submission. The Uni- vers and several Catholic papers in the provinces were suppressed, and almost every other organ of the party received an official warning; and the bishops were threatened, in the case of a continuance of the agita- tion, with the re-enforcing of the organic articles. It is general!}' admitted that the Roman Church in France has grown strong in comparison with its condi- tion during the ISth and at the beginning of the 19th centurj\ All the leading religious societies, confra- ternities, and associations of the Roman Church centre in France, which contributes for some religious pur- poses, as the foreign missions, more than the rest of the Roman Church together.
(3.) The Iligtovy of French Pi-otes/antism. — The Ref- ormation of the IGth century, soon after its rise in Ger- many and Switzerland, found man}' friends and pa- trons in France ; but it met at once with a determined opposition on the part of the Universitj' of Paris, which declared against it in 1521. Among the earli- est preachers of the Reformed faith were Bucer, Me- lancthon, Lefevre, and Farel ; somewhat later, Calvin published his Institules of the Christian Tteligion, with a dedication to king Francis L- Ia 1521 the first Prot- estant congregation was formed at Meaux, the bishop of which city, Bri(;onnet (q. v.), was one of the converts of Lefevre and Farel. The liishop subsequently yield- ed to persecution and recanted, but the congregation maintained itself. (For a fuller account of the begin- nings of Protestantism in France, see Reformation.) Under the reign of Henry II (1547-59), the members of the French Reformed Church had increased so greath' in numbers and strength that it became diffi- cult to treat them any longer as holders of a forbid- den religion. The Protestants did not content them- selves with seeking to secure toleration, but, regarding the Roman Church as doomed to destruction, and themselves as called by God to take its place, they often entered into plans for establishing Protestantism as the religion of the state. The adhesion to the Ref- ormation of several members of the royal famih', as the king of Navarre and his brother, the prince of Conde, and several grandees of the empire (among whom the three brothers Chatillon and th* noble ad- miral Coligny distinguished themselves), early intro- duced into the Protestant Church a political element
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which was strengthened by the cruel rigor with which the princes generally persecuted it. This element was developed the more strongly as the general spirit of those times was democratic, and as Calvin himself, the fatlier of the Eeformed Chuii-h, inclined to theocratic principles. " In 1555 the first avowed French Kefonned church was established in Paris. All the chief towns followed this example. The first s^Miod of the French Protestant Church assembled pri- vately in Paris, Maj' 25, 1559. Owing to the danger of the enterprise only thirteen churches sent deputies. Nevertheless, the foundations of an important super- structure were then and there laid. A complete sys- tem of ecclesiastical polity was speedily adopted, for the members of the synod had too vivid a sense of the dangers to which they were exposed to waste time in unprofital)le discussions among themselves. The form of government thus established was thoroughlj' Pres- b}-terian in its character. It seems to have corre- sponded verj' closely to that of the Church of Scotland. The Consistory may be viewed as representing the Kirk Session, tlie Colloquj- the Presbytery, while the Provincial Sj'nods of eacli are analogous ; and the Na- tional Synod corresponds to the General Assemblj'. The Consistor}' was elected at first bj' the whole con- gregation over which it was to rule, but vacancies oc- curring afterwards were filled up b}' the Colloquy. The ministers were elected by the Colloquy. A min- ister, on being thus elected, was required to preach before the congregation on three consecutive Sabbaths; whereafter, if no objection was made, the congregation was considered as acquiescing in the appointment. If there was any objection, the matter was referred to the Provincial Synod, whose decision was final. These provincial synods have ijeen generally sixteen in num- ber. The National Synod lias met but seldom, owing to the severe persecutions to which the Church has been exposed, and the increasing restrictions which have been imposed upon her. The Conftssion of Faith ailojifcd at the first synod consisted of forty articles. Its diictrines were strictly Calvinistic. Though the Churcli was much harassed b}' persecution during the reign of Henry II, still it greatly increased ; so much so that we are told that Beza, who died in 1C05, could count 2150 churches in connection with the Protestant Church of France ; and the churches were not small or insignificant in point of strength. In some there were 10,000 members. The church of Orleans had 7000 communicants, and the ministers in such churches were proportionally numerous : two ministers to a church was common, and that of Orleans had five. At this period there were 305 pastors in the one prov- ince of Normandy, and in Provence there were GO" (Eadic, s. v.). The cruel persecution to wliich tlie Calvinists were subjected after the death of Henry II, under the reign of Francis II, led them to organize the Conspiracy of Amboise, in whicli some discontent- ed members of the lioman Catholic Church also took part, though the majority of the conspirators were Cal- vinist*. Its aim was the overtlirow of the proud duke of Guise and his brother, the cardinal of Lorraine, who were tlie uncles of the king, and the cliief instigators of the persecution of the Protestants. The conspiracy was betrayed, and many of the participants lost their lives. Calvin and Beza had been notified of the en- terprise, but discouraged it, though they did not feel themselves bound to betray it. The weak king of Navarre, and still more liis lirother, the prince of Con- dc, were implicated in tlie ])lot, and nothing but the death of the king saved tlieir lives. The Calvinists henceforth received the name Huguenots, a name whose etymology is not quite certain. See Hugue- nots. During the regenc}' of Catharine of Medicis tlie Huguenots increased in number, and the court l)arty, wliich feared that their cxtirpation'was not pos- silde without exposing France to the terrors of civil I'.ar, was inclined to grant them religious toleration.